With every celebration comes a whole bunch of beautiful traditions. But what about the holidays that the U.S. doesn’t observe? What celebrations from around the globe are we missing out on? Specifically, all that the Mid-Autumn Festival has to offer! Let’s dive into the fascinating traditions and gorgeous celebrations.
What is the Mid-Autumn Festival?
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration that honors the moon and acknowledges the year’s harvest. Based on the lunar calendar, the festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month. According to our standard calendar, the holiday is usually between the middle of September and the beginning of October. This year, it falls on September 17th.
This holiday is most commonly known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, it is also known as the Mooncake Festival and the Moon Festival.
The Alluring History of the Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival can be traced back over 3,000 years ago to Ancient China. During this time, everything and everyone relied on abundant crops. Therefore, the Chinese used to pray for a successful harvest. Since the quality of the harvest is strongly dependent on the moon’s cycle, people in China began worshiping the moon. This led to the principle of the Mid-Autumn Festival originates. However, the festival became an official holiday during the Song Dynasty.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is an important holiday in China after the Chinese New Year. It is a public holiday in China, and everyone has a day off to celebrate. However, other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia participate in the festival. Although much of East and Southeast Asia celebrate, the traditions vary in each country. Asian Americans have also continued the customs of this festival in America. Communities come together to make this day special and ensure it is honored. For example, block parties, parades, and fireworks are essential in New York City’s Chinatown during the festivities.
Special Traditions and Customs
One of the most iconic traditions from the Mid-Autumn Festival is mooncakes. Mooncakes are pastries that have a sweet dough on the outside and a filling on the inside. Some traditional fillings are red bean, salted duck yolks, and lotus seed paste. However, cheesecake, mango, matcha, and cookie dough are very popular flavors as well. Although mooncakes are known for how delicious they are, their round shape represents reunion and family unity.
Lanterns are also common during the celebrations. Making your own lantern, lighting it, and carrying it around is a great way to celebrate. Lanterns are also hung on every lamppost to create festive energy on the streets. You can’t join the Mid-Autumn Festival without honoring the moon! Therefore, watching the full moon glisten in the sky with family is the best way to celebrate.
Mid-Autumn Festival Books
Explore fake relationships, family traditions, and delicious recipes in our top picks for this season’s holiday.
The Moon Lady by Amy Tan
Get transported to the Mid-Autumn Festival through the special pages of The Moon Lady.
To get a more visual aspect of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tan perfectly illustrates the colorful tapestry of the holiday. While it may be intended for children, this book goes beyond that. It includes beautifully detailed and colorful artwork that features the Mid-Autumn Festival’s lively traditions. This light-hearted book allows you to get a glimpse of this stunning festival and its celebrations. This book is also perfect for the younger crowd!
Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee
This book serves the fake dating trope and all the romance during the fall season.
Dylan Tang is an aspiring chef who needs to save his family’s Chinese takeout restaurant from shutting down. So he plans to win the Mooncake competition for teen chefs. However, Dylan becomes distracted when Theo Somers is one of his customers, and the fake dating begins.
Mooncake 101 by Mhdi Ali
What did you expect? Knowing the perfect way to make this holiday delicacy is a must.
You can’t celebrate the Mooncake Festival without a mooncake! Therefore, this recipe book is exactly what you need. It features all the irresistible flavors that your life has been missing. Whether you have a sweet tooth or prefer savory and salty flavors, this cookbook teaches you how to make them all. It’s time you indulge in a mooncake you can say you made from scratch.
Now that you have a solid overview of this stunning festival, you can join in on honoring the moon and acknowledging this year’s harvest. Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival by indulging in a delicious mooncake (or two) and reading some of these exquisite books!
Learn more about Fake Dating and Mooncakes here.
Find these books and more holiday books on Bookshop.org.
